Chicken Cider Stew is a colorful fall stew with moist bites of chicken, sweet potatoes and carrots cooked in apple cider. The recipe makes up quickly and lucky thing, tastes good right away. It's a long-time favorite recipe, mine, yes, but also other Kitchen Parade readers. No wonder, it's hot, it's healthy, it's full of flavor. Better still? It's one of those one-pot quick supper recipes we all love so much.

"Super Food" Sweet Potatoes

Over the years, I’ve collected several recipes that feature sweet potato, the thick-skinned, orange-fleshed tuber so packed with Vitamins A and C that some nutritionists call them a “super food”.

Especially plentiful during the fall, sweet potatoes carry about a third fewer calories and carbohydrates than white potatoes. Even low-carb diets encourage sweet potatoes when others are a no-no.

If your experience with sweet potatoes is limited to sweet concoctions topped with marshmallow, try these simple recipes and be treated to rich flavor unadulterated by added sugar. I could make a meal out of either one!

Put flour in small dish and slowly add 1/2 cup hot liquid from the stew to make a smooth paste. Stir into hot stew and cook another five minutes. Sprinkle with the cooked bacon. Serve and savor!

SERVING SUGGESTION Serve with rice cooked in half water, half apple cider, which adds a sweet, almost nutty flavor to the rice that complements the stew beautifully. That said, this stew is substantial on its own and really doesn't require a starch.

ALANNA's TIPS I some times skip the bacon but do nearly always use bacon fat to cook the onion, celery and chicken. Chicken breasts are convenient but expensive. For a more frugal (and dare I say, flavorful?) dish, choose chicken thighs. Packages of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are quite inexpensive but I always remove the skins. No apple cider? No problem! Substitute 2 cups apple juice for the 2 cups apple cider. But for the needed astringency, near the end of the cooking time, stir in a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar. For a gluten-free version, omit the flour and use an immersion blender to blend a small portion of the liquid and sweet potato/carrot mixture. Ready to play around? Add tomatillos, even chopped fresh tomato and poblano chili. (A surprise shortcut? Pico de gallo!) In the fall, this is my go-to dish to take to families when someone's ill or has lost a family member. It's easy to throw together, it keeps. Most important, it's familiar, it's comforting, everyone loves it.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

Cook peeled sweet potatoes in boiling well-salted water until soft. Drain the water, then mash until smooth. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Top with a touch of butter.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES

Peel sweet potatoes and slice cross-wise about 1/3” thick. Spray or lightly brush both sides with olive oil, then arrange in single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt or parmesan cheese and bake at 350F/180C for 30-40 minutes or until edges become crispy and centers soft.

More Sweet Potato Recipes

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

Comments

The weather turned to Fall and I got ginormous sweet potatoes in the CSA share, so my thoughts immediately turned to this stew! My husband was deployed when I tried it last year so he got to try it for the first time last night. He loved it, and so did I! The folks are in Turkey, cruising around the Black Sea, so there is a container in my freezer for them when they return (it may thaw as mush, but then we'll call it soup).

I couldn't find savory in the store, so I substituted Herbs de Provence for the herbs.

Apple Cider Chicken Stew is DELISH! I thought I had all the ingredients in the pantry- alas, the apple juice/cider was gone. I subbed a tub of apple sauce (1/2 cup)and added more water. The stew was a hit with the family.

Here’s why: I find that in a slow cooker, flavors and textures get all muddled, everything tastes the same instead of creating bursts of individual flavors in the same bite. For this particular recipe, the cooking time is quite short too, just 25 minutes. So maybe use that stove-top time to set the table, cook some rice, even, you know, pour yourself a glass of wine?

Thanks for asking, it is such a favorite recipe, I really should try it in the crockpot, just to see. :-)

Was wondering two things. 1) If using chicken thighs, would you use the same amount as the breasts-1 1/2 lb? Or a certain quantity?2) I'm thing that perhaps I might want to brown the thighs first, take them out and then sautée the vegetables and then put the chicken back in and proceed with rest of recipe. Any thoughts on this method?

Sunny ~ Ah, good question. By the time you take off skins/bones, I’d go for almost lbs of chicken thighs to yield the equivalent amount of meat. Or if you like, allow one per serving, the guys will eat two! And yes, I’d brown the thighs if they’re bone-in, though with boneless thighs, I just cut up the meat and toss it in with the onions/etc. I’ve made this recipe so often (and have learned how forgiving it is) that I usually just wing it. The essentials are some sort of meat (this week I intend to try it with beef!) and apple cider plus the ketchup (for a little acidity) and the apple/sweet potato/carrot combination (although butternut squash would work too instead of sweet potatoes).

Pat ~ Yay, another fan! Another idea, I served this last week with grits, they were excellent!

I've been making this recipe every fall for years, but never commented. I adore it.

Last night, I was all set to start cooking, peeled the plastic off the pack of chicken...and was met with a terrible stench! The chicken went in the trash and a dig through the freezer unearthed some pork chops that would thaw quickly. It came out fantastic. I am not sure which I like better now, the stew with chicken or pork.

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna